? CASE REPORT? Infliximab is Effective for Takayasu Arteritis Refractory to

We have experienced a Takayasu arteritis (TA) patient, successfully treated with infliximab, who did not respond well to conventional therapy with glucocosteroid and methotrexate. Takayasu arteritis had developed in a 24-year-old woman (March 2003) who had been treated with glucocorticoid including methylpredniso-lone pulse therapy and methotrexate; however, she relapsed during the tapering of the dosage of oral predni-solone. Nineteen months after the first administration of glucocorticoid, 3 mg/kg of infliximab was intro-duced to the patient. The therapeutic efficacy of infliximab was markedly demonstrated; the patient’s C-reactive protein (CRP) value returned to almost normal range with subsequent tapering of the dosage of oral prednisolone in the absence of further relapse. This is the first case presentation of TA in Japan successfully treated with infliximab